Ellesfena's Reviews:

Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle

I’ve been a huge fan of the Mountain Goats for going on ten years now. It’s hard for me to articulate exactly why they became my favorite band because it feels so emotional and personal, but it is in large part due to John Darnielle’s incredible lyrics and his ability to tell powerful stories in just a few minutes. I’ve had his books on my TBR list for awhile, but I didn’t feel very compelled to read them. I’m not usually (or ever) a fan of literary fiction, so as much as I love his music I wasn’t incredibly interested […]

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Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

I’m going to write this review as though it’s three separate reviews, because I can’t figure out how to review Books 2 and 3 in this series without completely spoiling Book 1. So if you don’t want to read spoilers, you can stop reading after Book 1. Book 1: Daughter of Smoke and Bone is the story of Karou, an art student living in Prague. She has a best friend, Zuzana, an annoying ex-boyfriend named Kaz, and a double life, wherein she works for a monster named Brimstone. Brimstone and his cohorts (various other monsters) raised Karou, and she now […]

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Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede

Searching for Dragons by Patricia Wrede

Calling on Dragons by Patricia Wrede

Talking to Dragons by Patricia Wrede

(Spoilers throughout) Dealing with Dragons has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid, but this is the first time I’ve read the rest of the series. This series, known as the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, focus on a group of characters living in and around an enchanted forest (as you may have guessed). The first book, Dealing with Dragons, introduces Princess Cimorene. She’s a misfit as far as fairy tales are concerned: she’s too businesslike to care about romance, is more interested in learning about swordplay and magic than in princess-like things like embroidery, and sees no reason […]

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Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones

Last year I read Nicholas and Alexandra and discovered a whole new, extremely specific genre that I love: nonfiction books about some point in time where everything came together in a very particular way that changed the entire course of history. I’m very pleased to say that Dreamland is now the second book I can add to that category (which really needs a snappier name). Dreamland is actually two stories which fit together perfectly to create something really terrible: it’s the story of Purdue Pharma’s development and aggressive marketing of Oxycontin, and the story of how a small Mexican state […]

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Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples

I really can’t believe I’m reviewing my 52nd book of 2018, because I never thought I’d get here. 2018 was a slog, y’all. The funny thing is, I thought it was because I hadn’t read that many great books this year, but that wasn’t true at all–I could barely find a one least favorite for the CBR wrapup post because I had enjoyed almost everything I read. I just couldn’t get into writing the reviews this year. Luckily, I am extremely competitive with myself, and since I cannonballed the past 2 years there was no way I was going to […]

Harriet the Spy; The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh

Harriet M. Welsch is such a gem. I’ve read both of these books, particularly Harriet the Spy, many, many times in my life because I so enjoy spending a little time with her. They both focus on Harriet (11 in Harriet the Spy, 12 in The Long Secret), a sixth-grader at an exclusive private school in New York City. She wants to be a writer someday, and has an insatiable curiosity that she feeds by writing down everything she observes in her notebook. She has a “spy route” of certain people in her neighborhood that she spies on regularly, but […]

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

Lethal White is the fourth book in the Cormoran Strike series, and it’s the one I liked best besides the first. This series has, on the whole, been a bit of a letdown for me. I really liked Cuckoo’s Calling and got excited about the possibility of a new series to enjoy, but then The Silkworm and Career of Evil were both so gross that I really didn’t enjoy them much at all. I still wanted to give this one a try because I like the main characters so well, and I’m glad I did. Lethal White was scary and […]